A police officer who works at Southwark’s school for excluded children said he is not sure how the council’s policy of aiming to end exclusion would work “in a practical sense”.
PC Nsikan Etuk, who has been a schools officer in the Met for eighteen years, said he was “not convinced” by the policy, unveiled by Southwark Council at a meeting last week.
“Me and one of the headteachers, we spoke at length about this,” he said. “[Southwark Association of Secondary Headteachers] have put a representation on this, and we agree that we’re not sure. Look, for me sometimes we can go down a pathway and it may sound good in theory, but in practice is it the best thing? I’m not convinced.”
Southwark Council’s head of schools and young people Cllr Jasmine Ali said last Monday (July 18) that she wanted to end exclusions to improve the life chances of young people in the borough. Children who are excluded often end up involved in crime and have mental health issues.
The council are asking schools, social services, police and other groups that work with young people to sign up to their charter, which also recognises “that there are rare instances where exclusion is unavoidable to safeguard children.”
But PC Etuk said: “Having a dangerous young person in a school environment… I’ve dealt with it for years. It can be very difficult for schools to manage.
“Our youngsters are exposed to a whole level of violence that has been normalised. The exploitation, the crime. You do need to get to a point where you can protect the needs of other young people. I’m not 100 per cent sure, I’m yet to see that.”
Southwark among worst boroughs for ‘county lines’ drug dealing
PC Etuk said he wanted to see attention focused on early intervention in the lives of children with behavioural and mental health problems, to prevent those issues getting more difficult as the children get older.
“A lot of children that get excluded, they present a lot of vulnerabilities, the schools don’t have the resources to deal with it.
“Parents don’t know where to get support for children with these conditions. That is where we need to be channelling the energy.”
The charter does pledge something along these lines, saying that “we will ensure that children’s additional needs are identified early, clearly communicated and supported through evidence-based interventions that are regularly reviewed for impact.”
Southwark schools praise ‘no exclusion’ aim – but aren’t on board yet
We reported last week how the Southwark Association of Secondary Headteachers (SASH) had praised the charter – while saying that its members, who make up most of the borough’s secondary schools, would not be signing until there was more detail on protecting teachers as well as children.
The charter, which received national media attention, has also been widely praised. Anne Longfield, the former children’s commissioner, called it “an important move”.
Meanwhile a young person who worked on the charter, and who had been excluded themselves years earlier, said: “Working on the school inclusion charter was very inspirational. As an excluded student myself, the idea of excelling into a successful career was capped from the second I was excluded.
“However, I have managed to go to university and use my personal experience to inspire and influence my academic choices. This charter provides a second chance for young people like myself to expand into new opportunities and careers.”
- Read our other interview with PC Nsikan Etuk below
- ‘Improve stop and search, don’t get rid of it’ says veteran Southwark schools police officer